Eend 1594

Jacques de Fornazeris created this print of a duck, or "Eend" as it's known in Dutch, at an unknown date in Rome. Consider the social status of the natural world in the 17th century. Depictions of flora and fauna weren't just about scientific accuracy; they reflected a culture's relationship with the environment, particularly within the rising merchant class in the Netherlands. As Dutch society underwent significant changes, the rising middle class began to value depictions of the natural world as symbols of their cultural and economic achievements. Prints such as these, circulated among a growing class of collectors, reinforced a particular vision of the world. The very act of collecting and categorizing these images mirrored the broader impulse to understand and control the natural environment. To truly understand a work like this, we need to look at the artist’s influences, the social context, and the evolving institutions of art in the early modern period.